Welcome to Spherot
by Megmoo602
Summary: 14-year-old Vern lives in the small town of Spherot- a happy place of love and joy in which really doesn't get much action. But after a coincidence between a quick shove and a deadly rock, Vern is stuck in the action of running, hiding, and possibly fighting for her life while being pursued by a nemesis she's hated for eternity. The only question is: How can she kill a dead spirit?
1. Welcome to my World

_**It's not every day you get to say that you nearly died an hour ago.**_ In fact, it's more like you never get the pleasant opportunity to state such an idea unless you're a idiot, like myself. Let me state it this way- all of this chaos wouldn't have happened if I hadn't tripped in the middle of the road and used the crudest person I've ever met as a cushion for the impact. Simple enough, right? I can't blame myself that the first instinct I have when falling is to grab someone else and shove them under me. To go with that is the cold hard truth: No one can live with a rock jammed in their throat. Thankfully that wasn't me that I grabbed. I don't even know if that's possible, anyway.

It wasn't easy getting the phone calls asking if I had really killed Emily Scarr, for every single time I had to explain the art of "Action and reAction". No one believed me- I mean, this WAS the first taste of drama in the small town of Spherot- and every phone call ended up with "I'm not letting my kids do anything with you!" ..._Heck, I don't blame 'em. _It doesn't really help that I live in a miniature estate under the streets and have to borrow the public payphone when I get hate calls. Plus, I _am _already hated so much by the residents around me anyway. You can say I get used to the hate in my estate. It doesn't help that i'm named after a plant, or just to inform you, the _Vernon Alder Tree _found in France somewhere. I go by Vern though. _Vernon _is too fancy.

Hmm… Where was I? Something about…

Oh, Emily Scarr. Yes, you guessed it- She's the one who took the impact for me.

Emily wasn't the most... _Influential _person in existence. I won't say she isn't helpful, but it's not like she's important. Emily was one of those rich, snobby and very stereotypical kids on the upper road. Upper road kids, let me just say, are the lucky ones who are blessed with a normal life. They're the ones who don't have to revert to stealing and social ranks in order to stay alive. Get the comparison? Emily had it good. She didn't have to be the lowest tier in a social rank nor the most hated person in all of Spherot. Her life was like winning the lottery over and over again, so you can say that I was jealous. But who wouldn't be jealous of Emily freaking Scarr? She was an Upper Roader, after all. _Was_. Her funeral service is already planned, and no, I'm not going to attend. I'm already too far away to bother, anyway. I'm not going to leave this old camp house until she's buried 6 feet under. Heck, while I have time, it's probably best to recite everything like a nursery rhyme. Sing a little song to go with it, heh? They won't hear me.


	2. The Flashback

Vern, get the heck up!"

A 6 foot tower stood above me, shaking my arms and legs. Its starch-smelling breath kept screaming " get up before I grab a gun and point it at your head! No one likes you, after all. In fact, no one would even care if you died, So get up!". I could tell by the long brown hair draping in my face that it was Cassie who was shooting death threats at me. How typical of her to do such a thing, I thought as sat up quickly. Her red baseball cap went flying backwards as I shoved her off of me, but she quickly retrieved it and yelled "Everyone's up but you! Think you can slack off today, huh? HUH?". Though her efforts do stun me- for normally I'm up before everyone else- I am not annoyed by her ranting. She is my only friend, even if she hates me. I carefully stood up from my barely-called-a-bed and dusted off the dirt on my pants. At the instant she stormed off, the room fills with peace. Cassie, Cassie... I think to myself as I change quickly and head out of my hut in the corner. The world around me is easily arranged- houses on the outside, food canister in the corners (all but my corner), and shops in the middle. Then there's The Gap- the only way into and out of our beautiful town under the streets. Already by just observing I can see Cassalina fiddling with the local fire and Sarah standing next to her. Crap. Whenever Sarah's next to Cassie, I can't be there. They've drilled that into my head more than once.

I stare off in a direction and use my perifrial vision to look for other people to blend in with. Rhyo's not an option, for he's working consessions. Sylvia's not here either. Jackson is MIA, and so is Jason. Where is everyone? I think to myself as I walk into the plaza for no particular reason. Eyes belonging to the people who aren't out stealing- or MIA- stare at me as I 'casually' wander towards Cassie. A plan forms in my head, and I toss it immediately. Killing Sarah would have to wait. Diversion! I think as I arrive to the fire and warm my hands. Already I can see Sarah giving me the look and Cassie quietly giving me the signal to hitchhike, but I instead look over at them and smile, which is bold. No one smiles at a higher-ranking social class unless you are their friend. Everyone knows that.

"You all going MIA soon?" I say calmly to the two, and Sarah gags. "Heh, well..." She starts, slowly looking over at Cassalina. Cassie's face blushes for an instant, but quickly returns to normal color as she responds "No, we're going to the park, Vern. Where else?" as she grabs Sarah's arm and spins around. Dang it... I think as I hear Sarah whisper "Nice, saving us from the idiot. He's so unusual sometimes." I can stare straight through the back of Cassie's head and still see her classic sneer. How typical. Even as I stare at them I'm being watched. It only seems natural for me to head to The Gap and go outside into the real world so I can get away from this nonsense. The church seems fitting right now... I think as I walk outside and climb the truss next to the bridge/ The Gap to get to proper Upper Road territory. Already I can hear a war of mockery between two familiar voices.

Cassie and Emily Scarr.

Not THAT dimwitt! I think as I stare at the mockery war ahead of me. Its occurrence is smack dab in the middle of the busiest street in Spherot, and thank gosh it's the weekend because if it wasn't everyone involved in the mockery would get mauled by a truck. I can see the fierce battle ahead of me, and I decide quickly to avoid it. Walking around the scene, I eye Sarah from the sidelines. She's yelling at Cassie some words in French that seems to motivate her.

That's when I slipped.

Well, it wasn't instant. I mean, I was on the sidelines and wasn't anywhere close to Emily. But as I stumbled over my own feet, the distance between her and I grew shorter. I flew forward, my hands flailing about and smacking multiple people in the face at multiple times. My feet, meanwhile, stumbled around each other until I somehow managed to bring Emily to the ground and get a rock to split her throat. The crowd around me gasped, and backed off quickly. Even Sarah hightailed back to the Understreets. But Cassie, in a startled reaction, gripped my arm and dragged me out of the scene.

Thank god for Cassie.


	3. Picking Favorites

By noon the word had gone viral- an Under Roader killing an Upper Roader, and absolutely no one wanted to believe that Emily was dead. By the time I had found out about the outbreak of knowledge, it was too late. There was absolutely no way to combat all the hate I was about to receive. But by prior knowledge I knew what I was forced to do, and in no circumstance was I happy and willing to do it. Running off and hiding in the wood shack by the forest was the only apparent option I had. I had to tell someone about the scenario, though, and that was Cassie.

She was the only hope I had left.

Grabbing my backpack in which I always have packed for emergencies, I carefully walked out of my hut and headed straight for the fire in which Cassie was standing by. Sarah, propping her arm around Cassalina, was ranting off a storm. _I can tell that they're friends just by how they act, _I said in my head as I got closer to them. Already the heat from the fire was radiating onto my head. _How typical._

By the time I reached them I already knew what they were talking about- me. It wasn't too easy to interrupt their conversation to simply talk to Cassie, for the whole time Sarah kept on saying my name and scooting closer to Cassalina. After waiting an impatient 5 minutes behind them I started tuning into their conversation. … **Though I really shouldn't have.**

Sarah: "Cassie, hon, you have to understand! With all of this murder going on with Vern… you can't hang around him anymore!"

Cassie: "Vern's a good friend. Though he does act like a girl sometimes…."

Sarah: "Exactly! He's too strange. Plus there's always that possibility that he'll kill you, like he did Emily. No one expected him to do that!"

Cassie: "It wasn't his fault."

Sarah: "What? He _**MURDERED **_her! How could it not be his fault?!"

Cassie: "He said he was shoved and the rock conveniently was there in the first place.

Sarah: "And you actually believe him?!"

Cassie: "Well…"

Sarah: "Cass, you're acting weird. What's going on with you? Where's the Cassie I know?"

Cassie: (_turning towards Sarah, not noticing me behind her_) "Vern's a great person, truthfully. He really is. And if you're going to think like all of the (_muffled words_) in this place, well, then, so be it! I'm not going to hang with a (_censored_) like you if you're going to be that way! Get a soul, seriously! Sheesh!"

Sarah: (_slaps Cassie_) "Are you ditching me for the **idiot **like him?"

Cassie: (_No response_)

Sarah: "Huh?!"

Cassie: (_Turning away and grabbing my arm_) "Yes. Yes I am."


	4. A Burning Feeling

We ran for what seemed like eternity but really was only 5 blocks.

Cassie gripped my arm tighter as we arrived to the old cabin-like house that was ditched a few years ago by some guy named Elliot. A mysterious aura filled our hearts as soon as we started walking up the steep yet miniature hill that supported the house, and Cassie paused. Her breath slowed down as she stared at me, eyes wide. I could tell by the look on her face that she was afraid of the coming future, but I didn't blame her for an instant. Truthfully, I was too.

"Y... You going to be alright?" I said in a cautious tone to Cassie, who in return nodded and stared forward at the door of the house. I looked away from her and eyed the dirt under my shoes, thinking.

_I can't believe she did this... For some freak like me._

My thoughts were interrupted by Cassie's sudden approach to the door, and considering how she was gripping my arm so hard I was losing circulation, I was left with no choice but to follow her. We both stood at the door for a good 20 seconds before I finally reached for the rusty old door handle and turned it.

_The door handle is warm._

The door swung open almost as if it was pre-greased, and it caught both Cassie and I by surprise. The smell of rotting wood clogged our nostrils and made us revert to mouth-breathing, which was a sign of weakness in the Understreets. Right now, however, it didn't matter. This was going to be our own go-to resource for a while, and we both knew it. In an instant I dropped my backpack on the floor with a _clump_ and headed for the stairwell, but halted. I needed to take this in for a moment.

_This is my home now._

_Home, to me, is the broken-down bed in which has springs leaking out of its sides. But this was simply not a broken-down bed, period. It is a house, and it is __**my**_ _house. That Elliot dude hasn't been seen for years and has been removed from town registration, which means that I can do absolutely anything with this. The walls- broken down and deteriorating- gives it a homelike-e feeling. The floor, however, won't do._ _I can probably shoplift from the downtown store, right? Get some... Blue dye..._

My thoughts were interrupted by Cassie once again, who was screaming from the kitchen.

"Vern, this house is on **FIRE**! Get out of here now!"

It took me a while to comprehend what she was saying. To me, it was like saying the house is simply fantastic, therefore relating it to the song '_This Girl is on Fire_' by some lady I don't know. But really what she was saying is reality at its finest: The house is actually on fire and I'm about to die if I don't leave the house ASAP. By the time it hit me hard I was already inhaling smoke. Cassie had already ran out the door, and I was still standing on the steps leading upstairs. Heat was radiating off of my skin by the kitchen, and at that instant I knew what I had to do.

_Sorry, house. Never really loved you anyway._

When I went out of the door I found Cassie standing there, tears in her eyes. Her hands were in front of her mouth, and she was hunched over. _Stress hormones?_ I thought as I approached her, and there she hugged me. Her face I could now see clearly, and it wasn't pretty. Make-up was running down her red cheeks. Bags were under her eyes. Little whimpers came from her mouth. "Vern," she sniffled, "Today has been a rough day."

It wouldn't be until later that I would understand what she meant.


	5. The Death Note

**AUTHOR'S NOTES: **_This is a really short chapter!_

Time flew by after the fire, and by the time we arrived at an old campground in the outskirts of town, we really didn't care where we were. Cassie's words kept on lingering in my head: _Today has been a rough day. Today had been a rough day. Today has been a rough day._ To hear the toughest and most BA person in all of Spherot say that means that it's reality. Truthfully, I believe it. Cassie's had it bad. Me? I've been blessed with a friend. But even though the old campground was really a two-floored two-roomed house, we lived up to it. Beds were sprawled on the top floor in a neat arrangement. Downstairs was the kitchen and living room: couch, lamp, and fireplace. There wasn't really much in the area but trees.

Cassie's hands were shaking when we investigated the top floor, so I clasped them. She didn't even budge or slap me when I did.

"Cassie," I said, holding her hand and looking at her, "Are you alright? You've been through a lot today, and..."

Immediately she responded with "Yes, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be 'fine'?" and set her stuff on the ground. Personally I was shocked by her response, for I didn't expect a reaction as such. But I went along with it as best as I could, following her around because of boredom. _Something isn't right..._ I thought as I stared at her awkwardly, avoiding eye contact. _Something isn't right at all._

I released Cassie's hands and stared at her, my eyes sinking into hers. "You've been acting different," I started, "and it's getting weird. Are you SURE you're okay?"

"I'm FINE! Stop asking!" Cassie retorted.

"I just want to protect you…"

"Protect me?! I'm already dea-"

I stopped.


	6. The Truth

Cassie backed up from me, the irises of her eyes changing to a variant amount of colors. Her mouth, wide open, screeched a high-pitched-ear-busting screech and remained open as her hands clenched into fists. She rammed her back into the wall of the old camp house and curled downward into a ball, breaking into a violent sob. The sanity inside of her was gone. No,

everything inside of her was gone- the rough, cutthroat Cassie that I knew and loved vanished as she cried. "It's all _over..._" She sobbed, her hands reaching up and rubbing her face, "It's all over. _Everything..._ Everything I know and I enjoy is gone. Everyone is gone-Dead. Dead just like me, just like Sarah, just like-" Her voice stopped and her sobbing came out in sniffles. She looked up, her head hitting the wall and her eyes staring at the ceiling. "I should have told you before..." She sniffed, "But I was too afraid. I still am too afraid for this... This _horror_ that has become the Spherot we understand... And it's all because of _her..._" Her voice cracked as she stared at the ceiling, not daring to look down. "Spherot is _possessed_, gosh dang it! Spherot is possessed by that brat who lived in the abandoned house we burnt down on accident! Oh, I wish I could explain..."

My eyes stared at her, not daring to move. I soaked in everything like a sponge- every sentence, every word, every syllable.

"The girl..." Cassie said in the midst of sniffs, "The girl in the burnt down house was friends with Emily. The girl... The girl protected her. She gifted her with things- riches, popularity, friendship... Emily had everything. But when you _killed _Emily..."

Cassie stopped, stared at me, then continued.

"When you killed Emily was when you summoned the girl. The girl possessed everyone and killed them from the inside out, slowly explaining her story to everyone before forcing them to roam Spherot as spirits- Illusions - **spirits** and making them continue their daily lives normally. She gave us all a warning, and that warning... That warning..." Cassie froze for a moment, staring deep into my eyes, "was to never tell the living of what is going on. _Ever._ Right now, though, I am telling you. I am telling you because I know The Girl is going to kill my spirit for good, and I am telling you because you are the last survivor. You are the only one who can possibly kill The Girl before she kills you, granting peace to Spherot. You ar-"

Cassie's eyes flickered, and her mouth froze mid-speech. The irises of her eyes turned dead white and her hands slid down her knees, slapping against the ground before disintegrating into ashes. Her legs started turning into ashes too, and she stared at me, never looking at them. Her mouth moved one last time.

"You are the only hope of us, Vern. Kill the girl before she kills you like me."

Cassie's spirit vanished, and ashes lay where she was sitting instead.

I was alone.


	7. Alone

I had to sit there and think about everything for a moment.

_Ashes, ashes..._

_Spherot? Possessed? How could this be?_

_That girl in the house must hate me now._

_How can I save myself, yet save the others?_

_Is death the answer to everything these days?_

_Spherot is possessed... Gosh, that sounds so weird! But by who? Cassie only mentioned that the spirit was a girl, which totally figures because it seems that about everyone in this town is female. Do I dare go figure out who? Do I dare go into the library in this state- as a survivor? I'm sure the library has some books on Spherot's past... Yet, at the same time, I bet the town hall has some pretty important things too. They do have all sorts of data files on the citizens, for that's the place that everyone gets 'registered'. But still... The spirit is after me! Wait- if Cassie just died from the spirit, does that mean the spirit is here? Or is it just that I'm paranoid...? Oh gosh, I just need to go!_

My mind continued racing as I sprinted out the room, quietly sniffling at the thought of Cassie. The ground beneath me stood dead still as I sprinted to the town hall, my every step shaking my confidence and my calamity. _The spirit... The spirit... _My mind mocked at me as I rounded the corner into the town hall, but my feet stopped and I looked for a moment.

_This isn't the town hall..._

My eyes, confused as ever, stared at the tiny shack next to the town hall. It was simply a roof, 3 walls, and a giant hole all made out of dirt. The wall that was missing was completely X'd out by yellow caution tape, and the giant, gaping whole was heading downward into the ground as if it was leading to some sort of a mining shaft. There was absolutely no light nearby or inside of the dirt shack, and it made it look denomic.

Strangely enough, Emily's house used to be right here. Yet, her house isn't a shack.

_I must've turned early. Stay focused, Vern..._

I continued on, my feet picking up the pace but laying my pace back at the same time cautiously. The town hall looked more rustic than usual, which makes sense because of everyone not actually being able to do anything to restore its condition. _This makes sense... _I thought as I opened the door, _no wonder everyone hasn't been eating. They really don't need to in the first place_. My eyes scanned the room for loads of bookshelves, but surprisingly there was nothing.

There was nothing at all.

A sole counter fit for registration lay along the sides of the town hall, but the rest of the room was bare. Pictures were hung behind the counter, each with little X's crossed along them in red. A sole picture- **MY** picture- remained clean of red paint. _That so figures... Why didn't I come here earlier? _Ran across my mind as I scanned the pictures exquisitely. _I could've seen how this has been happening, and I could've stopped it... Is this all really my fault? Is it because of me that all of these fantastic people... died- NO! STOP! IT'S NOT YOUR- Why could I not of acted befor- STOP! STOP! -Why did I have to tri- STOP THIS INSTANT!- Why was I shoved if there was no one behind me- GAAAAAAAAAAAH!_

I dropped to the ground, my hands on my head. _I MUST not get paranoid!_ If there was anything I had to, it was to not lose my mind and go through the 5 stages of grief. That would be the end of me. I stood up, ignoring the pictures to the best of my ability. _No more coming here. EVER._ was written in my mental notebook as I turned around. But when I faced the door, I stopped.

It was a picture.

Actually, it was Sarah's picture in which was untouched by the X.

I had to find Sarah.


	8. The Chimes and the Chimney

The room grew quiet as I stared at the picture. Of all people... It would be her, wouldn't it. But how is this possible? Cassie said herself that I am the only person alive still, and that I am the only hope left. Would Cassie lie? Probably. But WOULD she? In a desperate action to save me, she told me... ...My head became blank. I need to find Sarah.

My first reaction was to sigh. _Where on earth would she be?_ I paced the room, not caring that I nearly got paranoid at the pictures earlier. _It seems as If Sarah really is here, she'd be at the Understreets. But then again, she'd probably be afraid. Yet... Maybe she doesn't know. However... __**SHUT UP!**_ _She's at the church. She wouldn't be alive if she was at the Understreets. Case closed_. My head bolted shut of any other ideas. That was where she had to be, and I just... knew it. I stopped pacing, my hands clutching together. Another survivor.

I headed out the door quickly, running behind the buildings of the Upper Roads and keeping my distance from The Gap. I ran even faster as I passed the burnt down house, yet I stopped mentally to stare.

..._Wow_.

Cassie wasn't kidding when she said it was truly burnt down. The whole structure was gone except the chimney, in which was made of stone. There appeared to be a passage downward inside the chimney, but the gap was small and barely noticeable. _Whoever lived there must've wanted to keep a secret... As much of a secret as being a murderer._ My mind thought sharply towards the house. I picked up my pace once again and sprinted to the church.

By evening I had reached it. It towered over everything, it's wooden boxy shape casting a mysterious shadow onto the ground. The place was old, so of course it was like this... Old, ruined, but beautiful. I once again ran inside, opening the doors with church, of all things, had been known to be like this in the first place.

"Sarah?"

There was a shuffling noise and I froze, my eyes quickly searching the one-roomed area for her. A small scratching sound emitted from the chapel, and I looked up to see Sarah standing quietly up. Her hair, now jet black, had been let down from her typical ponytail and onto her new blackish-grey poncho that she was wearing. She also, conveniently, was wearing a dress. Never before had I seen her dress this way in the history of Spherot. She was strictly about fashion, and this was not fashionable.

I ran up to her, smiling a mile wide. "Sarah! Oh my god, I thought you were dead!"

Her arms, hesitant, hugged me. She stared at me with a confused expression.

_Was this really Sarah?  
_  
"Vern..." She said, confused, "I didn't expect you to be here..."

I released myself from her hug. _Of course I was coming here_!

"I'm alive, Sarah... For once in my life, I'm actually alive! Sarah, you are too... Can't you see? It's a new age, and we are living in it... an age of death, for god's sake! I thought I was the only one. Yet, here you are!"

Her eyes widened for an instant, then returned to normal. "Oh, Vern! Hah, I thought you were... Dead..." She stared at me, smiling. "You know, I think it's best that we stick together. You know, as survivors... Maybe get to know each- no, actually, not that. We should just stick together for a time. A LONG time. Until the end..." Her voice quickened, and she said sharply: "I bet that spirit will leave us alone if we stick together." She said it with confidence, and I believed her. Sarah turned around, staring at the wall blankly. "So never, EVER leave this area. Got it?"

I sighed. _Something isn't right. Then again, nothing is right. Maybe the mass death polls have changed her for the worse._

Replying "Sure," I sat on the pew. The church grew quiet as Sarah stared at the wall, and I gathered my things (in which was just a water bottle, flashlight and a filter). The air was murky and mysterious, so I got up.

"Hey Sarah..." I turned and looked at her, "You know how Cass- you know how I burnt down that one house out in the middle of nowhere?"

She twisted and stared at me sharply. "Yes. I do know about that."

"Well... Are you up for exploring down the chimney of that place? Only the chimney survived, and in it is a hole that-"

Immediately she retaliated with "No!" and ran up to me. Her dark brown eyes stared into mine as she grabbed my shoulders and replied "No one ever leaves this room. **EVER!**" She forced me down into a pew easily and took my stuff from me. She paused, the angered expression drawn perfectly on her face. There was a silence for a moment before Sarah sighed. She then said in an exhaled expression "The spirit will get us. It can't come in the church..." and immediately sat down next to me. "Vern," she said, "We are the only ones left... remember?" Gripping my wrist, she continued. "It's not like I want you to die-"

"_Sarah, stop it!_" I said aloud forcefully and ripped her hand off of my wrist. "It seems as if you really don't even _want_ to help the others who died live their lives normally! Have you no soul? Do you _really_ want to sit here in this... _Monstrous _church for the rest of eternity and die in pain and sorrow? Or do you want to **act**? Or do you want to be known? Or do you-"

Sarah contracted into a ball, then shot up and screamed "**SHUT UP! **We'll **GO!**" after grabbing her stuff. She handed me back my bag and started storming off towards the door, but I stopped her by grabbing _her _wrist instead. "Sarah," I said, "Thanks for understanding-"

Sarah flailed her arm and shook my wrist off of her. "Let's just go." She replied in a forced-calm expression as she walked out the door. I followed her quickly, my heart beating a mile a minute. _Maybe Sarah was right... Perhaps the ghost will get us outside of the church. But it's too late to turn back now..._


	9. The Message Committee

I jogged quickly and cautiously to the burnt-down house, following Sarah who didn't seem the least bit afraid of anything. The house's structure was gone, and the chimney lay bare and open for exploration.

"Oh-Okay..." I said cautiously, stepping forward, "If we get split up..."

"We'll be fine. It's not like the spirit is around right now." Sarah responded sharply as she walked up to the chimney and dusted it off. "Just call if you see anything. That's it. Don't get nosy, either. This probably is none of your-none of _our_ business."

"Right..." I responded quietly, and I stepped into the stone chimney. The stone structure was cold and bare, almost as if it was never touched by fire. The hole down was just large enough to squeeze through, and I turned on my flashlight. _There's actually a ladder... So perhaps this isn't really a chimney after all. Maybe the original owner-the murderer- has been planning this for a while..._

I stepped into the hole and pressed my foot onto the stone ladder. Its rocky crevice barely managed to support me as I climbed down, my hands gripping the rocky wall for safety measures. As soon as I reached the bottom I gripped my flashlight and looked around.

_This place is demented!_

The hallways on my immediate left and right were completely stone. In fact, everything was stone- stone walls, stone floor, stone ceiling. There was absolutely no sign of life anywhere in my immediate area, and all I could see was hallway upon hallway upon hallway. I looked up to see Sarah staring down at me, her eyes wide. "Alright, Vern..." She said, "Come out when you're ready. The spirit can't find you here..."

_I wonder how she knows this.  
_  
"...and you'll probably want to come out by night. If you run out of battery, just yell for me or feel for the walls."

"You are not coming down?"

She looked away. "No. It brings back... Memories."

With that Sarah walked off.

I trudged forward quickly. Taking a right, I headed down the hallway while conserving my breaths. Conveniently, there seemed to be more air down there than I originally thought. As I continued I reached a bare room that lead to another hallway.  
But this hallway was different-it wasn't stone.  
The stone sections combined with a metallic, science-center material that rushed down the hallway. It appeared to lead to another room with yet another hallway.  
I ran forward.  
As I reached the second room, I found it bare.  
_Just like the first._

I was hesitant to enter the hallway in front of me. It seemed lighter than the others and more welcoming, but a strange eerie feeling emitted off of its warm presence. It almost seemed as if it was a Venus Fly Trap... Welcoming, but deadly.

_Something must be in there._

I ran into the hallway, not daring to look left or right. The hallway lead to a dead-end and nothing else, so I stopped at the edge and looked around.

By my feet there was a note.

I picked it up, my hands feeling the worn-down creases of the fine paper it was made of. My eyes searched the paper for words, and I found them.

_"I never wanted to do that to you_

_But it was simply meant to be._

_All of the things you did to me_

_Have left me alone_

_And as far as I know_

_I only wanted to meet you._

_So as I had killed you I just wanted to tell you_

_That the whole time my head was saying_

_'I'm Sorry'_

_'I'm Sorry'_

_'I'm Sorry' ."_

My hands shook,

My head spun,

And I ran back to Sarah.


	10. And Now You Know

By the time I arrived at the church Sarah was nowhere to be seen. I figured she was probably out getting water or something, because Sarah seemed to know at every single time where the spirit was and what it was doing. My mind thought deep as I placed my stuff on a pew and walked up to the church stand where Sarah was earlier. As I walked I kept on thinking.

_I wonder how Sarah knows things. Like, for instance, the spirit. How does she know where the spirit is and what it's prone to? How does she walk casually in the open and not sprint, and most important, how in the world can she smile so much in such a depressing state? It's almost as if she's hiding something... I swear. Cassie said that I was the last survivor, but was she lying or telling the truth? Yet, would Cassie lie about anything these days? Most importantly, Would Cassie lie on the last breaths of her life? Who's to say we're all-__**SHUT UP! NO PARANOIA!  
**_  
By the time I reached Sarah's spot I noticed something. It's white, glittering glow stood directly beneath my feet. It was clearly ripped up and hated, because it sat there in a depressed state and showed no interest in changing its appearance. Upon noticing it I squatted down and stared at it closer to see writing scribbled in the mass-crumpled pieces of paper. The blue ink was slightly smeared as I unwrinkled a piece and read.

_For you reading this now, it is me. I wrote something earlier at the hut outside of the Gap but never got to finish it because I was killed, as you can tell. As I was saying, Spherot is posse-  
_  
The paper ended there. I picked up the pieces in a panic and ran to the pew, my heart racing. Suddenly everything made sense. Everything about Sarah and the spirit made perfect sense. But I had to keep reading. Spreading the pieces out, I formed the paper back together and read it in a quick, cautious matter.

_-Spherot is possessed. The whole town is possessed by the spirit of the burnt down house. That spirit worked quickly and quietly to avenge Emily-but they were short lived by an even bigger threat... A threat that I cannot mention right now. They're out right now, ending the lives of people like me. There's only a few remaining right now... and truthfully, I don't know how they can live through all of the suffering that occurs with murder. It's not like I know exactly what it feels like... But really? Who could live with the idea that they've killed a whole town? That girl who's doing it... Man, if she reads this, she better understand that all of us dead people can't understand and never will understand why she's doing this. But she must have a good reason, right? To murder a whole town out of the blue? If she is reading this, here's a fabulous question: What will you do after the deed is done? How will you feel? Most importantly, will you feel guilty? I surely would. Imagine how happy this place would be without her and her insane deeds... Oh, am I ranting? So sorry. Anyway, the spirit's name- is she around? -is Sarah. When she kills someone she says to call her 14... But I don't. I call her a demon, because that's what she is and how she acts. She's not a demon child, unlike some people... But she is a demon. Before Emily's murder, the ghost of the burnt down house tried to see the fight that was raging between Cassalina and Emily. In response, they shoved this girl named 'Vern' who ended up tripping and killing the one they loved dearly. In frustration, that spirit attempted to kill Sarah... But Sarah, as demonic as she is, killed off the ghost with this chant... Man, if I can remember it, I can write it down so the survivors can kill off Sarah! That's all that really happened. If only I had more information... Are you still reading this, Sarah? If so, do you feel guilty yet? Do you- oh, she's coming. Gotta go. I'll meet you in another note..._

Time freezes for a split second as everything in the note dawns on me completely. I soak it up like a sponge, repeating every single word on the piece of paper one more time in my head. _Sarah... Is the spirit..._

_Sarah...  
Is the spirit..._

_Sarah killed us all_...

I looked up sharply to see Sarah entering the door, staring at a piece of... Something, if anything. My heart skipped every few beats as I watched her close the door to the church and stare out of the glass. Crap! I thought in a drastic matter as I brushed the note's pieces onto the floor and shoved them under the pew. Hopefully she didn't see that... Or ever will see that! Quickly I rushed under the pew, cradling the note.

_...all but me_.

I could hear Sarah's footsteps approaching closer after she turned around, and I could sense her sly eyes scanning the room for me.

_She's been playing me...  
_  
My heart, pounding heavily, slammed into the ground as I clenched my fists.

_She's been waiting for the right moment_...

My eyes wandered in fear to her, and my mind screamed in terror as she bended over to where the note once was. She rubbed her hand across the spot in a panic and shot around, her eyes piercing every inch of the room.  
_And she knows_... I thought,

_She knows now that I know_.


	11. No Secrets Left Behind

Sarah stood there for a second, staring at every inch of the surrounding area visible. There was a look in her eyes that screamed out in frustration into mind, but luckily she couldn't see me. However, she knew that I was here.

"_Oh, Vern!"_

_"Come out, come out, wherever you are!"  
_  
_"Let's not play hide and seek, now!"  
_  
Her eyes glowed suddenly with a dark presence, and suddenly her shadow-now malformed- crawled up her body and stretched outward from her back in the form of arms. The shadow arms raised upward and turned in each direction as if sniffing for me.

_**"Come on now Vern, let's not waste my time. Get out from your hiding spot and show yourself!"  
**_

Sarah breathed in, closing her eyes. She froze for a moment, almost as if thinking. But the silence was disturbed as she screamed a demonic _**"RA-HAAAAA!" **_and shot forward a powerful dark wind that send the pews flying, revealing me. At my presence she smiled, her eyes widening and revealing a tint of red under her black, magic-radiating irises. Sarah stepped forward, her shadow hands dragging behind her. Her hair glided behind her as well, now jet-black and tinted with pink. Meanwhile, her poncho radiated a pink essence under it. It was like she was someone else... a demon, if anything. At the instant she roared:

_**"I AM FOURTEEN! DIE, VERN! DIE, DIE, DIE NOW!"  
**_  
I jolted up as her shadow arms reached for me, my hands clenched in fists.

_She is Fourteen...  
_  
Quickly I scanned the room for options.

_The door!  
_  
She flung herself at me, shadow hands outstretched. _Go, go, go!_


	12. When the Bell Sounds

I screamed.

Well, of course I did.

In the instant I screamed a bell echoed in my ear right before the shadow hand grabbed me. As I ran and tripped backwards, a figure appeared in front of me. Its appearance-familiar as it was- was one that I knew dearly...

It was Cassie.

Her hand stretched outwards, deflecting Fourteen's grasp and flinging it to the side. Light shot out of Cassie's side as she shot forward and pinned Fourteen without saying a word to me. For Cassie, in her new form, was almost transparent. Her silhouette was blue and the details of her body were shown completely and fully, but something was lacking in her. Something... Necessary.

Her face.

With the instant Fourteen's hands and body were deflected came a torrent of light. It flowed out of Cassie's hands freely, almost like a strong current in a river. Cassie didn't dare look at me (simply because she couldn't) as she did this, but I knew deep inside that Cassie had changed completely. No longer was she self-centered and cruel, but she now understood how precious time was. She was... pure.

Fourteen flew backward, her head slamming into the wall and indenting it. She fell, rage suffocating her eyes. "_**Cassalina**_..." She said, "_**Oh, Cassie. Welcome back.**_"

With that Fourteen shot up, her hands quickly grabbing Cassie. The hands squeezed Cassie's sides as she struggled and squirmed in them.

_**"I can't believe you actually decided to go against me, after all!"**_

Fourteen flung Cassie, making Cassie hit the wall with a _thump_ and slide down to the ground.

_**"All of that time I spent trying to explain to you how pathetic normal life is... Wasted, hmm?"**_

Fourteen slammed into Cassie, who did not speak. Her shadow hands slapped and socked Cass in a way that would make a normal person bleed.

_**"It's so sad how all of you never understand my duties! It's so sad how you never know why I do them!"**_

Cassie's hands suddenly shot out from nowhere and pushed at 14's face, muffling her voice. 14 then dropped Cassie and shot a shadow-like ball towards her, but Cassie dodged it and ran towards me.

_**"Why do you not want to join me in the afterlife? Why do you not want to be immortal?"**_

Cassie spun around and released light from her hands again. The ball smacked Fourteen in the face and ricocheted back into Cass's hands.

_**"Do you not see the beauty of Death?"**_

Fourteen fell to the ground but summoned a portal under her. Silence existed for a split second before a portal appeared behind me and I found myself under Fourteen. Her demonic, shadow-like eyes looked into mine and she smiled to the best of her capability.

_**"DIE, VERN!" **_

I smacked her face and sent her backward before her shadow hands could reach me. _How pathetic... _My mind sputtered out as I rolled on my side and got up. Anger boiled inside of me, but a cold hand reached over and patted my shoulder. _"Vern," _Cassie said in an angelic voice, _"Go. To the shack beside the town hall lies the key to defeating Fourteen, and only you can find it. Fourteen will be waiting for you after she defeats me for good._ _Do not fight her now... For you cannot win against her without the clues a friend of mine has written. Fourteen has been searching for them, but only has come upon two. You have seen one. Continue to search quickly!" _

Cassie's voice echoed in the church as she suddenly grabbed me. Fourteen sputtered as she got up from her state of shock, her eyes boiling. **"I AM FOURTEEN!" **She said quietly but forcefully, **"STARE INTO ME! STARE INTO THE EYES OF DEA-"**

Cassie's angelic arms pulled me backwards, and with a loud ringing noise emitting from her the room was filled with light. By the time 5 seconds passed the ringing pierced my ears and I found myself surrounded by the presence of light itself. Cassie's words still lingered in the air...

_"Go. To the shack beside the town hall lies the key to defeating Fourteen, and only you can find it._

_You cannot win against her without the clues a friend of mine has written._

_Continue to search quickly!"_

With the last words still hanging from a thread in my mind I awoke in the middle of the street.

Alone.


	13. Silence

**I was laying on the ground.**

The wind blew harder than before. It brushed against my face and ran down my neck, feeling every crevice of my face. I stared upwards at the blue sky, with its puffy clouds washing away at the coming of the river. The road below me was warm yet cool, and it brushed my back as if to say _get up, get up..._

Yet I wasn't ready. My mind was still aching from whatever happened earlier, and my heart was pounding for some reason.

_What happened?_

I sat up slowly, my hands blackening from the blacktop. A head rush occurred as I did this and I slammed back down to the ground again.

_Agh..._

A ringing suddenly erupted from my ears and I winced, but it vanished as the wind brushed me again. My mind was telling me something, but I could not decipher it in any sort of extent. However, at random spurts it would yell the word _CASSIE_ at me. Whatever that is...

_CASSIE!_

My body told me to lay here and enjoy myself, but my heart told me something was wrong.

_THE SHACK!_

Confusion sank in.

_THE NOTES!_

Trees rustled in the distance as the wind petted them, too.

_GET UP_!

My body sat up again and endured the head rush. The wind pulled at my hair as if to urge me to go on, so I listened to it and walked towards the Town Hall carefully. My balance barely hung with me as I stumbled upon the walls of the Hall.

_THE PICTURES!_

I opened the door over a period of time due to my balance. My vision became blurred as I leaned against the wall for a moment, but it returned when I started walking. The thumping coming from my head ceased for a moment as I stared at the pictures.

The pictures that weren't there.

In the spots in which the pictures were laid empty frames with absolutely no sign of anything inside of them.

_There is nothing here…_

The faint blur in my vision suddenly vanished and my eyes focused. Truly, there was nothing here. No pictures, no counter, nothing. The room itself was completely bare and quiet, as if something was wrong.

I paused for a moment, taking it in. There was absolutely no way to tell if I was alive or not.

_Which, of course, I am, but…_

I spun around, my mind barely intact.

_If there's really nothing here, then…_

With my thoughts echoing in my mind I walked out the door casually. Of course, there had to be an answer to my loss of thought somewhere… but where?

…

At that moment it hit me. It hit me hard, like a brick thrown through a window on a hot summer morning in July then landing on your newly painted toe in which you broke last week. For, in fact, my mind came upon this realization as my face was smacked with a sole leaf:

_THE SHAAAACK! THE SHACK THE SHACK THE SHACK THE SHACK THE SHACK THE SHACK THE SHACK THE SHACK THE SHACK THE SHACK THE SHACK THE SHACK THE SHACK THE SHACK THE SHACK THE SHACK THE SHACK THE SHACK THE SHACK THE SHACK THE SHACK THE SHACK THE SHACK THE SHACK..._

I jumped out of my sanity as I turned straight to the right and sprinted for about 5 paces before halting right in front of the dirt shack that I had noticed before. The sun practically burned my eyes as I stared straight at the shack- its luster shining brightly before me and beckoning me forward into its deadly trap. I knew at this moment that it was time for the end of my anti-paranoia life, but yet I still wondered: _Was this really worth it?_

_Is practically killing myself to avenge these dead people really-_

_**SHUT UP!**_

_**NO PARANOIA!**_

I gripped the drawstrings of my bag o' belongings and ignored the hunger pains deep inside of me. The sky brightened as I stepped closer to the death trap, and the grass below my feet practically pushed me forward. _This is it…_ My mind reminded me, _It's time to fix this once and for all!_


End file.
